Mentally I might still be here *sigh*. While I write a few non bookish articles and read a few books as my coping mechanism, let me bore you with my February and March reads.
📌 A Reaper At The Gates and A Sky Beyond the Storm
These are the last 2 books in the An Ember in the Ashes series.
Sabaa Tahir is a cruel and an ingenious author and An Ember in the Ashes Quartet is a proof of that. I stumbled upon her An Ember in the Ashes in 2017 by sheer coincidence in a pile of second-hand books, and have been a fan of her humble and hilarious self and her books ever since.
You’ve got magic, action, sadistic and ruthless characters, high stakes, mythical creatures and TW for mention of abuse. The Roman Empire inspired world created by her is immersive and gripping; the evolution of her characters and the nail biting action sequences speak for her writing prowess. The thing that stood out for me about this series is how the political scenario here is concurrent with our times: the dissent, violent squashing of movements etc.
The good thing about this series I felt is that it keeps getting more and more ambitious with each book with consistently amazing and emotional writing and brutal plot twists and bigger wars.
An excerpt from a review I wrote in 2017: “This book!! Hands down, one of the best I’ve read in a loooong time! This book just made me feel things after such a long time. It was just brutal. I was at the edge of my seat and it was so fast paced and the characters are so diverse.”
Not very coherent I know but you can understand my frame of mind though 😂. I still feel it’s an underrated series in India and hasn’t gotten the praise it deserves.
This is a series, super concurrent with our times and it’s not just fantasy with magic and a hoard of magical creatures, especially revenge seeking jinns; there is deception, bloody politics, plot twists, diabolical gut wrenching moments, fast paced gritty action and seamless narration, transitioning from one point of view to other which is infuriating when something really bad is happening to one person and we switch the point of view to someone else’s.
The 4th book is one of the best conclusion I’ve read to a series. This is the biggest war the last 3 books have been culminating to, with not 1 idle moment and is just stunning. Tahir does not hold back, killing people left and right, prophecies which lead to some big revelations and some super alliances to “beat the common enemy”.
Just READ this series 🤯.
📌 The Mountain Sings
An atmospheric multi generational saga, set in Vietnam, rich in the description of the culture, food, proverbs etc. There might seem nothing new with this book but due to the prevalent act of history being written from the victor’s perspective, this is an account of the various upheavals which took place in the country from the eyes of a native, interweaving history with fiction through the Tran Family, providing knowledge about the Great Hunger, brutality of land reforms and the far reaching consequences of the Vietnam War (America didn’t only lose its people as so many movies might make you believe). It jumps a lot between timelines, the only part which I didn’t like.
An effortlessly written moving tale, brutal and reflective in its narration; a tale of hardships, fractured families due to wars and politics, a mother’s love and sacrifice, survival against all odds from the kindness of others and above all, hope.
📌 Circe
“But perhaps no parent can truly see their child. When we look we see only the mirror of our own faults.”
TW: Assault, violence.
I remember going to another room and silently crying after finishing The Song of Achilles. Circe in that way was quite the opposite. I closed the book with a satisfied smile on my face, content because Circe deserved that ending.
This book is not going to be everyone’s cup of coffee. As Sumedha from @thewordyhabitat put it, it feels like a ‘character study’ of Circe as she makes the best of a life in exile after scaring Zeus because of her immense powers as a fantastic witch, capable of doing so much more if she learns how to harness her powers. She does learns more about them, harnessing the power of the herbs around her, making potions, tending to her animals, turning men into pigs etc. over the years on the island of Aiaia, during her period of exile.
Going in, I didn’t know anything about Circe. The author weaves a wonderful tapestry of Circe’s life, starting from her birth, an outcast in her family, despised and ignored by everyone, entwined with those of other Greek characters like the nymphs in her father, Helio’s, halls, the mighty egoistic God’s, monsters, the heroes like Odysseus etc., who she interacted with along with stories of other Greek heroes and Gods which people brought to her.
I really liked the feministic undertones in the novel and how she learnt as she went, from her mistakes you can say, grew stronger and wiser from a naive lesser nymph, protected her loved ones fiercely and wrought havoc on those who underestimated her, mostly the men.
It’s a heartbreaking and a magnificent tale of self discovery, loneliness, motherhood, sacrifices, love and betrayal and magic, spanning over centuries. I would suggest this to the fans of Greek Mythology who might’ve loved the Percy Jackson series, people who like character driven stories which might be a bit slow in their pacing with nothing happening as such most of the times and people fond of the poetic prose writing style. It was truly a treat!
“It is a common saying that women are delicate creatures, flowers, eggs, anything that may be crushed in a moment’s carelessness. If I had ever believed it, I no longer did.”
📌 An Educated Woman in Prostitution
I generally don’t rate memoirs but I’m rating it as far my reading experience goes, the writing and translation and my expectations from it.
This was a very new topic for me and to be honest, I was hoping to find some in depth analysis of what happens in prostitution during that time period. Read on to see what I learnt instead.
Society has always been afraid of the growing agency of women. When this book came out, people didn’t believe in the existence of the author and believed it to be written by man.
“A noble person might write an autobiography for noble purposes, but it does not capture society in its entirety. My life is not at all noble, quite the contrary, in truth. But the purpose of this memoir is noble. I am a sinful, tainted woman, I have no claim to a good reputation therefore I can openly admit to the truths of my life in a way that no noble person has succeeded in doing. They cannot.”
When I was younger and less wiser than I’m now, prostitution was a taboo word and prostitutes were considered immoral and to be avoided. I realised that they were just sex workers, selling their bodies, on their own terms, just like how everyone else sells something in their respective profession.
Manada Devi, Maanu, grew up in a rich family with a father who lavished her with his attention and everything she wanted, including a good education. Her mother died at a very young age, and as her father remarried, he stopped paying attention to Maanu. Ultimately, without anyone to guide her, as she was coming of age and developing feelings associated with hormonal changes, she was lead astray and abandoned by those she loved, including her lover and father, which led her down a path of no return.
Set in the backdrop of the Swadeshi movement, this book narrates the story from her childhood to her days of roaming the country as she eloped with her cousin, continuing till her getting into prostitution. She also wove in stories of her friends and colleagues and how prostitutes joined the independence movement and in collecting money for various relief funds.
The book is a reflection of the decisions made and why as she gave into her body’s desire even as she’d choices, regrets about a profession she was forced to remain in, by supposedly educated men, which she ultimately came to resent.
It’s sad to see how some of the things still hold true on today’s time vis a vis the condition of women and men coming out unscathed after being accused of harassment.
This book is brutally honest and unflinching in its portrayal of the society, laying bare the hypocrisies prevailing at that time, effortless and simple in its narration, which shocked the society. I didn’t learn much about prostitution though but gained plenty of information.
“Those who imagine our lives happy, who are desirous to consort with us, would do well to understand that if there is a hell on earth, it is our existence. I am abhorred by all, an untouchable- I have no place in society, and I do not deserve one either. But the portraits of a few of the debauchees in the garb of holy men who occupy high rungs of society despite consorting with us will enable readers to understand the world we live in. They will be astonished to know how these hypocrites ruin innocent girls.”
📌 Sister of my heart
I really enjoyed this one! This is a very old novel from CBD. We’ve headstrong Anjali and soft spoken Basudha, the Chatterjee girls, who couldn’t have been more opposite to each other but have always stuck together until Sudha learns a secret and takes upon herself the burden to right the past.
The book is steeped in Bengali culture, setting the atmosphere of Calcutta in the 80s, the narrow lanes, the delicious food and so much more. The book explores their life from their birth, as they are controlled while attending school with a reputation to maintain under the watchful eyes of the society to their hurried marriages, as they go to their respective in-laws, a crack coming between them due to a misconception.
The superstitions prevailing in India plays a big role in the story along with the power of stories, narrated orally & the bonds it forms, which reminded me of my Dadi’s stories. There is also a tone of feminism to the story, with Anju being a huge Virginia Woolf fan, wanting to be independent and often raising the question of how women are blamed for everything in the society, for no reason.
At times, my heart breaks for Sudha, who for no fault of her own takes charge of Anju’s happiness, throwing away her own and hence has to go through a lot of heartache.
The pacing is rather slow which might not appeal to everyone but CBD reveals the secrets gradually as they are so layered, some shocking and some staring right in your face the whole time that you don’t want to put it down. CBD has curated characters which are so human with their multiple flaws & complexities.
There is another book in this series but I don’t think I’ll be reading it even though this book was left on somewhat of an ambiguous note.
📌 A Court Of Silver Flames
TW: Sexual assault, violence.
*This is Adult, not YA.*
I’d both hopes and apprehensions from this one; hope because it was Nesta’s story and apprehensions because ACOWAR left a sour taste in my mouth. As soon as I feel that it’s time to give up on SJM, she comes back with yet another book which I’ve to read because her writing has that compulsive pull which keeps me hooked!
In this book, we follow Nesta, who has been exiled to the House of Wind, after the Inner Circle is alarmed by her drinking & sexual proclivities.
After her initial rebellion, she finally starts taking responsibility, learns more about her powers, develops friendships, overcomes her mental health problems and is an all rounder badass, not caring if anyone likes her not. The action sequences, including training are quite vivid & well written.
The book started of well but then got quite boring with irrelevant info and incessant repetition with a lot of sex which was not written properly and just made me laugh! Maybe I’m not familiar with Fae anatomy 🤷🏻♀️. There was a such a big deal made out of the plot, with the Evil Queens coming back and very powerful magical artifacts to wreak havoc on the world which just fell flat and anti climatic at the end.
📌 Ring Shout
I haven’t rated this book cause quite honestly, it sorta went over my head. I didn’t know what I was getting into when I picked this up. Klu Klux Klan, mythical zombie like beasts feast on Black people in this fantastical world with magic and action packed with some kick ass black women, slaying them.
This book talks about hate, especially the hate that people harbour against minorities. The audiobooks was def an experience which you shouldn’t miss because of the dialect and it just added more depth to the characters. There is a whole lot happening in just about 189 pages, which makes it for a fast, all encompassing read. But it just wasn’t my cup of coffee.
📌 The Roommate
Swinging between Clara, who moves across country for her crush, and Josh’s, an adult industry worker, point of view, we’ve an unlikely partnership between 2 people living together, opening a conversation around sex workers and their job, porn corporations, about female pleasure being equal to the male’s in a hetero relationship, easy banter and the steam interspersed with tender moments of vulnerability. I liked both of their journey. The steam was just ok. The ending was super rushed through and they were supposed to take on the porn empire, exposing corrupt labour practices, their monopoly, lower wages and what not but they just blew past it! It’s like the author wasn’t interested in researching the law part. I really think it could’ve been more interesting in that sense.
Until next time! More reviews to come ✌
Take care and stay safe ❤
Kaleidoscopic Nerdy 